Greetings Traveler!

This blog is just drabbles of things I thought we're interesting. It features the adventures of me, my husband, and our friends and family that visit us in Japan.
And remember "Not all who wander are lost".

Whew, it’s a good thing I enjoy editing, because this took forever to make. It’s my lists of the best things about Enoshima Island which is a Tokyo Getaway spot that takes an hour and a half to reach by train from Tokyo station.

It’s best stuff is in the summer (beaches, swimming hole) and the winter (illumination and the clear skies for gorgeous sunsets)..

It is well known among tourists in Japan, and even from China and other parts of Asian. However, western tourists don’t seem very familiar with it. They also don’t seem to know what’s so special about this island on Japan, a place with lots of islands. Continue reading →

A friend invited me to join them for a Shamisen demonstration in Asakusa. It was dripping with rain and bitter cold. A great day to be indoors. On the other hand, I found a place where you can snap a photo of a bird’s eye view of Sensoji temple in Asakusa

The Shamisen demonstration was sponsored by the Japanese government and featured some of Japan’s top shamisen artists. The lady in glasses has directed a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, one that received a standing ovations. They were amazing. I took lots of video (I asked first and they said it was no problem and to ‘please film’) I’ll post the video of the amazing performance on another day.

(Video editing takes lots of time).

They even let us play. Shamisen is so much fun to try out. My friend has skills playing the guitar so he took the Shamisen fast. I was worried because I can’t keep a beat (I always fall out of rhythm), but it’s surprising easy to play it.

It’s both string and a percussion instrument that was brought from china over a thousand years ago. However, the Japanese had to invent their own unique style of playing.

Afterwards, we headed to Harajuku to eat the Kawaii Monster Cafe. I had heard lots about this cafe, but had never eaten here before. Continue reading →

When I was young (staring around five) I wanted to read everything my dad read. My father relaxes by reading fantasy and scifi. He has boxes and boxes full of books. The covers were all fascinating.

As a child, I would ask him about the stories he read and he would fold and ear into the book and start telling me about the story he had read so far. Through him I was transported into the worlds of Larry Niven, Robert Heinlein, and countless others.

It frustrated me that I couldn’t read like he could. My schools wanted to assign me children’s book — children’s books! The nerve! I wanted to read like my daddy. His stories sounded cool.

Instead I got stories about kids going about their day to day life at school. Boring!

I tried and tried to read way beyond my level and couldn’t. My first attempt to read Frank Herbert’s Dune went down in flames — I was seven and only got through the first paragraph after an hour of reading and using a dictionary.

My father and I have always been close. As a child, he was my hero. No matter how busy he was assembling some shelf my mother had assigned to him, he would talk to me and listen.

Eventually, hearing his stories created a burning desire inside myself to write my own stories. Never once was I discouraged, he would just ask for more and offer suggestions. My father loved science, and hard science fiction more than anything.

So I came to as well. That was why I studied biochemistry in college. Still my love of fantasy burned just as strong.

Some of my fondest memories are sitting by my dad while he built or repaired a piece of furniture and I told him of the latest story I had come up with. Sometimes I told about starship captains or quests to destroy the Great Evil. Often my main characters were female — simply because I was probably inserting myself into the stories — and he would eagerly listen and ask me to finish the story.

When I was a teenager I discovered Japanese anime and Sailor Moon and DBZ. These were the stories and shows that influenced me as a child and a teenager and even into my college years:

My husband’s aunt and uncle always create calendar cards that are beautiful and feature everyone’s birthdays. She even has my parents, brothers, and relatives’ birthdays included. (A couple years ago she asked for their information).

We finally remembered when our anniversary was thanks to her including it on her calendar. She is a very sweet woman. Each photo of flowers she took herself from 2016. It is a hobby she puts great effort into.

One thing I have noticed is when you receive gifts like that in Japan (maybe this is true anywhere), you must take them out and look through them carefully, admiring the work and heart that went into it. You don’t just go “Thanks” and toss it in your bag.

Whenever I receive a gift in Japan, I will admire it for a few minutes after opening it and ask questions about the material and how they got it. It makes a big impression and seems pretty expected.

I’m now so accustomed to this “gift-giving” manner than when I go back to the States and others don’t do it, I find myself a little taken aback. The nerve! Continue reading →